How can you tell if a cameo brooch is real?

A carved cameo shows fine tool marks and crisp undercutting. Shell glows through when held to light and has a curved back. Plastic and resin cameos are moulded, feel warm and light, and have a flat back with no tool marks.

How can you tell the age of a cameo brooch?

Look at the subject, the carving style and the mount. Classical subjects and fine detail, a gold frame with a long pin overhanging the edge and a C-catch, or a pendant loop, point to the 19th century.

What are cameo brooches made of?

Mostly shell, especially helmet and conch shell. Hardstones such as agate, sardonyx and carnelian, coral, lava from Vesuvius and mother of pearl were also carved, and imitations were made in glass, ceramic and plastic.

How do you clean a cameo brooch?

Wipe gently with a soft cloth or a soft brush. Do not soak a shell cameo, as water can weaken it and damage the mount, and never use chemicals or an ultrasonic cleaner.

Antique Cameo Jewellery

Cameo brooches and antique cameo jewellery, mostly Victorian: shell and hardstone cameos carved in relief with classical heads, goddesses and mythological scenes, set in gold frames with rope, beaded or scroll borders, alongside cameo pendants and rings. Many were carved in Torre del Greco and Rome and mounted in Britain, the finest showing extraordinary depth in a few millimetres of shell. See our Victorian brooches or all Victorian jewellery.

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